Longtime O.C. Public Defender Carl Holmes dies at 72

Feb. 11, 2014

Updated 1:45 p.m.

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Long-time Orange County public defender Carl C. Holmes has died at 72 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. COURTESY OF THE HOLMES FAMILY

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Left to Right, Chief Deputy Public Defender Carl Holmes, (the rest are Deputy Public Defenders) Roger Alexander, Jeff Lund, Denise Gragg and Allyn Jaffrey all wear black armbands in protest of the resumption of capital punishment. All are based in the Santa Ana public defenders office. Photo taken on March 21, 1990. FILE:, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

NEWPORT BEACH – Longtime Orange County Public Defender Carl C. Holmes, known for passionately representing the poor and downtrodden, has died at age 72.

Holmes died Friday at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease, said his wife Eleanor Stegmeier Holmes, who also is a lawyer.

The Huntington Beach resident worked for the Orange County Public Defender’s Office for 32 years. The office represents criminal defendants who cannot afford to hire private attorneys.

Holmes was well known in legal circles for his skill in defending the indigent and oppressed, according to his colleagues and friends.

“Carl developed quite a reputation for being a voice for those who had no voice,” Stegmeier Holmes said.

Holmes was also described as the Atticus Finch of Orange County, after the fictional defense attorney in the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” because of willingness to defend the underdog, his wife added.

However, Holmes was much more than an exceptional lawyer, said longtime friend Paul S. Meyer, who is a Costa Mesa criminal defense attorney.

“He was an artist with the fly rod and a self-deprecating but actually pretty good golfer. He loved baseball and played for the University of California, Berkeley,” said Meyer. “He adored travel with Eleanor and friends, and enjoyed his excursions to Europe, the Middle East, Yellowstone and elsewhere throughout the U.S.”

“We often hear about a moral compass, and the importance of getting things right,” Meyer added. “Carl was a living example of that struggle and passion.”

Holmes was born August 7, 1941, in Dixon, Ill. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley in 1963 where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology.

Holmes then attended the Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, graduating in 1968. After four years in private practice, he joined the Orange County Public Defender’s Office in 1972 and retired in 2003

Jennifer L. Keller, an Irvine attorney, said she spent the first five years of her legal career in the Orange County Public Defender’s Office working with Holmes.

“He was a wonderful guy,” she said. “He was a very humane, kind, compassionate person. He didn’t judge our clients harshly no matter what they were accused of. He taught all of us that our job was not to judge them either and be in their corner no matter what.”

Gary M. Pohlson, an attorney in Laguna Hills, has known Holmes for 35 years.

“He was a class act,” said Pohlson. He was a really smart guy, organized guy and caring guy. He was just a gentleman.”

Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, said she has fond memories of Holmes.

“Carl was a very fine attorney, but more importantly, a fine and caring person,” Schroeder said. “As an attorney, he was always honest and forthright as well as intelligent and effective. I’ve always been impressed at how well he served his clients without compromising his ethics. He was a very good public defender, because he cared about the people he served. He was a good friend, too. I will miss him.”

Added Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach, “He was fun. He had good loyalty. As a fellow department head, I enjoyed working with him.”

Holmes handled nearly every kind of assignment in the public defender’s office. He served as the manager of the central, north and west judicial districts as well as assistant public defender of all municipal courts in Orange County. Holmes became the county’s public defender in 1997, which is the office’s top post.

When Orange County declared bankruptcy in 1994, Holmes devised a plan that saved the county about $6.1 million per year without compromising the quality of legal representation to the indigent of Orange County, according to a statement from the public defender’s office.

Holmes received the Orange County Human Relations Award in 1999.

The award recognized his participation in several community and professional organizations including the Orange County Bar Association Judiciary Committee and the Orange County Future Search Coalition, which coordinates and promotes communication between community-based organizations, private enterprise and government agencies in helping the poor.

Also in 1999, Holmes received the California Public Defender of the Year Award, which is given to those who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and legal abilities.

In addition to his wife, Holmes is survived by two sons and a daughter. A memorial service will be held Feb. 21 in Costa Mesa.

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